User blog:Sojitsu/Sojitsu's guide to sniping
Learn from a veteran sniper in BF4, BF Hardline, BF 1, PR, and a very good sniper in PF. After this, you will have the potential to change the flow of an entire game or completely neutralize a push. Disclaimer: The following playstyle you will learn from here focuses on priority sniping rather than getting multiple kills. It also focuses on minimizing deaths and is less aggressive than other playstyles. For learning aggressive sniping, go here or here. '' Now that the poke fans and FaZe fans are gone, let's get straight into the action, or lack of it. decided to write this because everyone's writting one The main idea You are not a quickscope king. You are not meant for close quarters combat or for going against enemies with assault rifles. You are 400 studs away, watching the objective or routes towards it with your rifle. It won't be exciting, but it will be necessary. Remember, when you're playing a sniper role, that's 1 less person playing the point. You're turning a 10 v 10 into a 9 v 10, and with weapons that have high DPS values like in PF, then that 1 extra person will decide who keeps the hill most of the round. Do NOT be that one guy away from the hill trying to get kills. Your team cannot hold against a push without you... ....so neutralize that push. ''Your job will be stopping pushes to the hill or point. If 1 or 2 people start rushing the point alone, take them out. More will spawn on them and take the point. Your job is to take out high-threat oponents''.' That sniper on the other team with a BFG? That guy who keeps dolphin diving with an M16A4? The guy who's forcing everyone into cover with an M60? Take them out. They are giving your team one more thing to be conscious about and diverting their attention, like what you should be doing. 'Your job is to spread invisible fear. 'Kill a guy once, he'll shake it off and respawn. Kill him again, he'll start remembering to watch out for you. Kill enemies consistently as they pass by a path, they'll start looking out for you on that path, or look for another route. But most importantly '''Your job is to keep 'em away from the objective. Whether be it by killing those that come close or drawing their attention, keep them off. Weapons Primary Sniper rifles, while they are a really good option, aren't necessary for playing this long-range role. A DMR, a Battle Rifle, or an Assault rifle with proper attachments can be used, but it won't be as easy or effective as the full size bolt action rifle. The bolt action rifles, or sniper rifles as they're simply called in the game, are slow firing, high damage rifles that have the ability to immidiately kill someone if you hit them in the head. They range from the fast firing and aggressive Mosin Nagant to the stable, heavy, and slow Hecate II. They're better for longer ranges, as they usually have the full 3,000 studs/s. DMRs are the next best thing when it comes to long range, but are superior to the sniper rifles in terms of versatility. They can play medium and long range well and fire faster than the sniper rifles. Most will 3 shot to the body and 2 shot to the head, but many dare to break this standard. Battle rifles, when used with the right attachments and in the hands of a potent player, can fill DMR roles and even sniper roles, as they deal higher damage than assault rifles and have better range. Since they will 4 shot at most, the user can use a high magnification optics and semi auto to poke at snipers that come too close. They will, of course, be vaporized by proper sniper rifles and DMRs at longer ranges. Assault rifles can be used at long ranges too, thanks to their lower recoil and high velocity, making follow up shots easy. They lack the damage of sniper rifles, DMRs, and battle rifles to be devastating, so the strength of a long range assault rifle is in its' rate of fire. For optics, you'll obviously need a high magnification optic that's crisp and clear. The ACOG, M145, and C79 are popular choices. If you're willing to sacrifice peripheral vision for more zoom and the ability to steady the scope, which is a big advantage, then try out the VCOG. Most long range weapons will already have a default optic, like the SVDS, AWS, SVU, etc., so it's better to use those. But it's all in personal taste. If you feel comfortable using this optic over that optic, then use it. You don't need a barrel attachment for your sniper rifle unless you're considering a suppressor. For the ones that are running semi autos, the Muzzle brake is always good to have. Decreased muzzle climb as you shoot and the penalty of added horizontal sway isn't noticeable in single fire. For bolt action rifles, a flash hider won't hurt you as bad as it would hurt a semi auto sniper. It does little to nothing, so why not use it? For any primary long range weapon, a suppressor has many upsides but has 2 very noticeable downsides. Why use one? So you don't expose yourself immidiately after shooting. It hides your muzzle flash, it hides the muzzle report, and you don't appear on the radar. Yay. Why not use it? Because your damage will suffer. This shouldn't be a problem unless it affects your shots to kill (STK). The Mosin, for example, does 50 damage at long range. With an ARS, it will do 45. That's 1 more bullet to get a guy. The other downside is the velocity will lower. It will go below pistol velocity with the wrong suppressor. If you are still interested in using a suppressor, go with the default suppressor. It has the lowest penalty and it won't affect your damage at long range. But if you could, just use a pre-suppressed weapon. The velocity will always be higher than default weapons with a suppressor. If you're using a bolt action rifle, then you don't need a grip. It won't help recoil because it's bolt action, and it'll slow down your ADS time. Semi snipers are a different case. A folding grip or stubby grip would be helpful to deal with camera kick and gun torque. I would, however, recommend an underbarrel laser, as it helps recenter the gun faster without penalty to aim speed. For your last attachment, it's up to you. Lasers will improve hipfire capability and weapon recenter speed, giving you an edge at both long and short range. Canted sights gives you an extra lower magnification optic to use in close range situations. The ballistic tracker teaches and guides you how high you have to aim to hit them in the head. This limits it's effectiveness to long range, since you already know where to aim up close. I would recommend a red laser for hipfiring, unless you're using a semi auto rifle. Then use green. Fast recenter time is important. Secondary Playing at long range doesn't mean you're always going to be far away from your opponent. For you secondary weapon, I'd recommend something fast and light for those panic situations. I don't recommend a slow firing secondary like a shotgun or the 1858. I also recommend a secondary weapon you'd be comfortable using for extended periods of time at up to mid range, as your long range, slow firing primary weapon isn't meant for short-mid range skirmishes. If you didn't suppress your primary, then now would be a good time to use a suppressor. A machine pistol would be great, as it can easily and quickly kill an enemy that tried to flank you or if you ran into soomeone up close. The downside is that it makes a distinct rapid firing noise, and it's also hard to use against more than one person without proper trigger control. A simple, semi auto pistol would need a good trigger finger, but have higher DPS, with the majority having the ability to 3HK like the M9 and 1911. They are easier to control in terms of ammo management and, if you're using the M9 or G17, you have 100 rounds extra. They hit harder than the auto pistols and have less recoils, but the downside is they don't have full auto. The magnums can kill faster, but they don't fire fast enough to feel comfortable. They kill fast, but don't fire fast. They also need a headshot to out DPS the other two options. Position A sniper needs a nice position. Somewhere they can watch the battle unfold. Somewhere they can set up for a bit. Yeah, no. Not in a game like this. For the whole match you need to plan atleast 5 spots. For each spot, there are certain criteria. 1.) Can you see the objective from here? 2.) Is there cover? (Something you can hide behide if ever you will be shot at) 3.) Is there concealment? (Somewhere you can hide as to not be seen) 4.) Can you see your previous position from here? 5.) Is this a popular position? If so, choose another one. If it meets the criteria, then this is an amzing position. You need to be able to see the objective or a route to the objective to inconvenience. You need cover and concealment if ever you'll be spotted and shot at. You gotta be able to see your previous position from there, to catch flankers or people waiting for you to peek out from that position. And if many people go to that position, people will immidiately expect enemies there. Strategy If you own the objective, be it a flare or the hill, you'd want to defend it. Defending the point is simple: don't let people get on, don't let people get by you. Take a position where you have a good view of the objective and one or more flank routes there. Watch where enemies will go. Proceed to take out enemies that go through the routes you're covering. Head to your next position, you'd have company very soon. Keep taking out hostiles that come through the areas you watch and continue repositioning. Watch out for dangerus oponents like enemy snipers and high ranking players. If the enemy holds the objective, open up routes from afar. Take out enemies on the hill, around the hill, going to the hill while your team is capturing. You gotta protect your team while they capture and make the job for them easier by weakening the enemy team defense. Your team will capture and there isn't anything the enemy team can do about it. Final Tips * It'll become challenging if you physically try to contest the point. Instead, take out the enemies on it. *Cover becomes less of a necessity the further you are, as most players will have difficulty reaching you. However, you will become spotted more often. *Instead of suppressing your current weapon, try switching to a pre-suppressed weapon in the same class, like the VSS Vintorez or the AWS. *Feel free to empty the Mosin Nagant as it's reload speed doesn't change with the amount of ammo in the magazine. *Stay on the move! *Don't stand too close to the window! Your weapon model might poke out and enemies passing by will see you. Weapon camo now has purpose. *Practice with your secondary, trust me, you'll be using it alot. *You can use mid range DMRs like the MK11 or SKS to stay closer to the objective if your team is going after kills. *Stay aware if your limbs clip through the floor, wall, ceiling. This is how I have killed many snipers from below. *If you're using the Intervention or 50 series, don't let enemies in cover get away! Shoot through the wall. *If there's another sniper on the server, listen in to what he's using. This can potentially help counter him. *Best positions are closer to the edge of the map. *Prone or crouch in face of another sniper. Minimize exposure. That's all for now. Let me know what y'all think below and let me know if any of this helped. -Soj, 3/27/2018 Category:Blog posts